Scrutiny of 'therapists' is well-founded

On behalf of all the decent and legitimate massage therapists in the Fox Valley area, I am happy to see the crack downs, violations given and closures happening to those people and places that are working under less than scrupulous standards So, thank you St. Charles, for being forthright on pursuing these "bad apples."

There are many of us in the area who have gone to school, completed the education and received the certification, secured licensure, paid our fees and are insured.

We are providing legitimate service to the community and are quality people in general, adhering to the guidelines in our profession's code of ethics. It hurts our image in our community and our potential to see the "other" type of massage businesses being tolerated and allow to be in business. Many times over the past few years, I have read in the paper the arrests of "massage people" that have been caught offering sexual services, which is not what the legitimate massage professionals are all about. I've often wondered, "Do any of these 'therapists' even have educations and licenses to practice? Is anyone even checking this?"

It is not fair to us, to abide by the standards and rules and see others come into our community and not abide by these same standards and rules, and be lumped in under the umbrella of the same profession … massage therapy/spa.

I hope the Fox Valley communities continue to keep a watchful eye on the profession, to allow the good ones to be treated with respect, allowed to exist and succeed, while weeding out the bad ones, which hopefully will get the message that they are not welcome, nor will be tolerated in our communities.

Pauline Swenson

Licensed Massage Therapist

Geneva